A patient in a hospital or other health care setting requires the restorative benefits of sleep. However it is also necessary to carry out patient care activities, to control the environment in the patient's room or care space, and to attend to housekeeping and maintenance tasks in the patient's room or care space. At least some of these activities, or the consequences of them, can disrupt the patient's sleep. For any given activity it will be beneficial to assess the benefits of patient sleep relative to the sleep disruptive potential and/or benefit of carrying out the activity and, on the basis of that assessment, judge the advisability of carrying out the activity.